popular culture — Bunk History

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Pornotopia

In the mid-20th century, Playboy wasn't just an erotic magazine. It was an architectural movement as well.

by Paul B. Preciado via Public Books on October 11, 2019

The Commercial Rise of Country Music During the Great Depression

The Depression was the gravitational pull that created country stars and their nationwide universe of listeners.

by Christopher C. Gorham via We're History on October 7, 2019

Drawing of a man and his donkey from the book, Uncle Tom's Cabin, circa 1800s.

Americans Have Always Celebrated Hacks and Swindlers

In 19th-century New England, rule-breaking Yankees were a source of national pride.

by Hugh McIntosh via Zócalo Public Square on September 16, 2019

Mass Barbecue is the Invasive Species of Our Culinary Times

There's room for the haute and folk traditions but the market-driven style taking over is the most problematic.

by John Shelton Reed via The American Conservative on September 3, 2019

Glinda the Good Witch (Billie Burke) and Dorothy (Judy Garland) in "The Wizard of Oz."

"The Wizard of Oz" Invented the "Good Witch"

Eighty years ago, MGM’s sparkly pink rendering of Glinda expanded American pop culture’s definition of free-flying women.

by Pam Grossman via The Atlantic on August 25, 2019

Cathy Gillies, Kitty Lutesinger, Sandy Good, and Brenda McCann, of the Manson Family, kneel on the sidewalk outside the Los Angeles Hall of Justice on March 29, 1971.

The Manson Family Murders, and Their Complicated Legacy, Explained

The Manson Family murders weren’t a countercultural revolt. They were about power, entitlement, and Hollywood.

by Aja Romano via Vox on August 7, 2019

Pulp Fiction Helped Define American Lesbianism

In the 50s and 60s, steamy novels about lesbian relationships, marketed to men, gave closeted women needed representation.

by Erin Blakemore, Yvonne Keller via JSTOR Daily on August 1, 2019

Was the Automotive Era a Terrible Mistake?

For a century, we’ve loved our cars. They haven’t loved us back.

by Nathan Heller via The New Yorker on July 22, 2019

Big League Chew’s inaugural package in 1980.

How a Minor League Pitcher Turned a Dugout Conversation Into the Legend That Is Big League Chew

The inventor, who baked the first batch of the iconic gum 40 years ago, talks about the genesis of an American rite of passage.

by Jake Malooley, Rob Nelson via Esquire on July 10, 2019

The Eugenicists on Abortion

Contrary to what Clarence Thomas recently claimed, eugenicists never favored abortion as a means of population control.

by Karen Weingarten via Nursing Clio on July 2, 2019

Dr. Strange Love, from the Stanley Kubrick film of the same name

Watching the End of the World

The Doomsday Clock is set to two minutes to midnight. So why don't we make movies about nuclear war anymore?

by Stephen Phelan via Boston Review on June 11, 2019

Image of Sergeant Pete Thibodeau during the War on Terror.

The Sum of All Beards

How did facial hair win American men’s hearts and minds? Thank the War on Terror.

by Adam Weinstein, Adrian Bonenberger via The New Republic on June 4, 2019

How Spaghetti Westerns Shaped Modern Cinema

In the realism, the set pieces, the operatic music, Sergio Leone was pointing the way towards modern filmmaking.

by Quentin Tarantino via The Spectator on June 1, 2019

Solange and Beyonce Knowles at the MTV Video Music Awards, 2007.

‘Give It Up For My Sister’: Beyonce, Solange, and The History of Sibling Acts in Pop

Family dynasties are neither new nor newly influential in pop.

by Danielle Amir Jackson via Longreads on May 20, 2019

Original Catfluencer: How a Victorian Artist’s Feline Fixation Gave Us the Internet Cat

A story of how Louis Wain single handedly made cats adored by Victorian society through to modern day.

by Lisa Hix via Collectors Weekly on May 7, 2019

Why Disco Made Pop Songs Longer

Disco, DJs, and the impact of the 12-inch single.

by Estelle Caswell via Vox Earworm on April 25, 2019

How a Small-Town Navy Vet Created Rock’s Most Iconic Surrealist Posters

The story of one of rock's most prolific poster artists.

by Ben Marks via Collectors Weekly on March 28, 2019

Reading in an Age of Catastrophe

A review of George Hutchinson's "Facing the Abyss: American Literature and Culture in the 1940s."

by Edward Mendelson via New York Review of Books on February 25, 2019

Yes, Politicians Wore Blackface. It Used to be All-American ‘Fun.’

Minstrel shows were once so mainstream that even presidents watched them.

by Rhae Lynn Barnes via Washington Post on February 8, 2019

Poster for minstrelsy cake walk

The Faces of Racism

A history of blackface and minstrelsy in American culture.

via BackStory on February 8, 2019

Pinkerton detectives.

Who Were the Pinkertons?

A video game portrays the Wild West’s famous detective agency as violent enforcers of order. But the modern-day company disagrees.

by Rebecca Onion via Slate on February 1, 2019

How Smooth Jazz Took Over the '90s

And why you should give smooth jazz a chance.

by Estelle Caswell via Vox on December 3, 2018

What the Popularity of 'Fortnite' Has in Common With the 20th Century Pinball Craze

Long before parents freaked over the ubiquitous video game, they flipped out over another newfangled fad.

by Clive Thompson via Smithsonian on November 29, 2018

Cover of Orwell's "1984."

Here are the Biggest Fiction Bestsellers of the Last 100 Years

(And what everyone read instead.)

by Emily Temple via Literary Hub on November 27, 2018

'I'm Feeling Bad About America'

The sick history of the U.S. campaign song.

by J. W. McCormack via The Baffler on November 1, 2018

Athleisure clothing items including a windbreaker, cap, sweatpants, and running shoe.

How Athleisure Conquered Modern Fashion

The sudden ubiquity of sportswear might seem a little odd. But almost every feature of modern fashion was once adapted from athletics.

by Derek Thompson via The Atlantic on October 28, 2018

Poster for Barnum and Bailey circus.

The American Circus in All Its Glory

A new documentary tells the history of the big top.

by Joseph Bottum, Justin L. Blessinger via Humanities on October 19, 2018

David Porter Takes Us to School

The man who wrote "Soul Man" gives a master class on how code-switching through music helped catalyze the Civil Rights Movement.

by Tonyaa Weathersbee via The Bitter Southerner on October 16, 2018

Soldiers burning books.

How We Roasted Donald Duck, Disney's Agent of Imperialism

Why a 47-year old anti-colonialist critique by Chilean dissidents may be newly relevant in the Trump era.

by Ariel Dorfman via The Guardian on October 5, 2018

The Rape Culture of the 1980s, Explained by Sixteen Candles

The beloved romantic comedy’s date rape scene provides important context for the Brett Kavanaugh accusations.

by Constance Grady via Vox on September 27, 2018

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